It’s not what we eat daily that’s unhealthy, it’s what we eat occasionally that kills us. What we think is good for us can be poisonous instead. Here is my story about my experience with an ‘occasional’ treat; I hope it inspires you to walk this journey with my family and me. Here is my back story: I have a friend that I make sweets with all the time. We would make all kinds of sweet treats: cupcakes, cakes, cookies, etc. I would make desserts using ORGANIC sugar and always half the amount of the sugar listed that the recipe asks for. But about 3-4 weeks ago, Kaz said he didn’t like how sugar was making him feel and that he was done with it. That meant we both had to quit. No more ORGANIC refined sugar.
The effect of no sugar was crazy and even I was surprised by its effect. After a few days of this no refined sugar diet, I was seeing a patient that concerned me; stressed me out more so than usual. I literally saw my hands tremor, and the scariest thing was that I could not control it. Naturally, I blamed it on stress, the full moon, PMS, hormonal changes, etc. It’s so much easier to blame others then to admit that I was going through a sugar withdrawal. Sugar is extremely addictive and eating it enables one to go on working. Modern people depend on sugar to give them the push they need to accomplish their immediate actions whether it’s a day’s work or a session of sports. These days, sugar is used to boost up a body’s energy level that the body can supply. Sugar acts as instant energy, but can easily turn into a drug addiction, especially for those who are unaware of its effects. In previous experiments conducted by scientist on sugar, they put a mouse in a box, one corner of the box had sugar while the other corner had cocaine. They compared the reactions of the mouse of whom had cocaine and of sugar. The result was that the mouse didn’t know the difference between the both and was extremely addicted to both. Sugar is very addictive and can easily be poisonous if we are unaware of its effects.
After a couple days, the tremors finally cooled down in frequency and my heart rate has calmed, thank goodness! These past couple weeks, I had the challenge of eliminating all the foods that had sugar in it, I made sure to carefully read all the labels and came to realize that most foods had some forms of sugar in it. Even a cup of milk that’s barely sweet in taste is still considered a form of sugar; lactose. However, I am lactose intolerant, so I don’t have to worry about that aspect, haha. The ideal way to take sugar is in its most natural form in food. The sugars found in rice and in most grains, vegetables, and fruits are called polysaccharides complex sugars. When we take sugar in this form, our body is forced to break down the polysaccharides into monosaccharides-simple sugar. This is the natural process of sugar assimilation into our bodies. Although I allow myself to have a fruit a day, usually 1/2 an apple or fruit leather, I must be very mindful of not eating too much and never to eat on an empty stomach; usually 1/2 hour after a meal.
The sweetest of all the simple sugars is fructose. When you are on a candida diet, the lowest amount of fructose in a specific food is through berries. When glucose and fructose combine, they form what is commonly called double sugar, sucrose, which is a lessened amount of sweet sugar extracted from beets, cane. While the highest amount of fructose lies 90% in agave and high fructose corn syrup. Foods will include salad dressing, sweetened yogurt, soda, candy bars, chocolates, etc. Basically, all the junk food that you’d often see in the grocery market. It’s important to identify what is good sugars and what are bad sugars. When sugar is used in moderation, it can prove to be good medicine. In the Orient, honey can be used as medicine. It’s diluted in hot water and drank in small amounts, helping to reduce the strong effect sugar can pose. This is an especially good cure for side effects and difficulties during menstruation. It’s particularly excellent for people with strong constitutions.
After two weeks of the sugar diet, I asked Kaz why he wanted to stop eating sugar, he simply explained that day when he saw his reflection on the mirror, he noticed that he looked older It scared him because he couldn’t believe how much older he looked. Kaz will be soon be hitting 50. He wanted his youth back, like back to looking like he was 30 years old. Youthfulness is a precious gift that can be preserved with a good diet and lifestyle. Is the elixir of life (immortality) simply to stop our addiction to sugar? For me, this experience is very real, and I like my change. Nina, my assistant tells Kaz that I have been much calmer and more relaxed. My kids look slimmer with no inflammation. They’re not whining as much, and my teenage girl’s acne has cleared up a lot. Kaz and I are committing to this no sugar diet as a part of our daily regimen. On special occasions (birthdays, celebrations, etc.), dessert is a great treat, of course always in moderation. —Sweet Love, Juli